When a Cardinal eats at the feeder will its mate always be near by?
My Hypothesis:
I think that because Cardinals will always be near their partners to stay safe, because they have life mates and they are such bright colors making them more vulnerable to predators.
Introduction:
I came up with this question because I have always been interested in cardinals. I think its really interesting that they stay with their partners all their life, and they are really cute and fluffy.
Materials and methods:
I will watch the bird feeder for about twenty minutes every evening and morning to see if I can see any Cardinals. Cardinals feed at these times. because they are ground feeders and their bright colors makes them easier to see. I will also listen for cardinal songs. cause that's how the male and females call to each other. The cardinal song sounds like shweeeeee shweeeee chir chir chir chir
Materials I will need:
A bird feeder
Bird seed. Black sunflower and safflower seed attract cardinals.
My I phone to take pictures
Results:
I went to the bird feeders every morning and evening for the observational study for two weeks but I did not see any Cardinals, I only saw chickadees. So I decided to look at other data sources such as ebird to figure out why I didn't see any birds at the feeder.
total nuber of cardinals from all north american lists on ebird over the year. This graph shows that during the fall the number of cardinals is at its lowest of the year.
But why do the counts go down in the fall? According to Cornell labs they don't migrate, and they don't molt so they should still be identifiable and in the area.
According to a source there are 5 reasons why birds may not be visiting your bird feeders. I went in the woods around my house to figure out what ones of these apply.
1. The food might not be fresh
we had just filled up the feeder a few weeks ago and it is already empty. so the other birds seemed to like it. I saw a lot of chickadees feeding at the feeder.
2.the bird feeder might not be clean
we cleaned it out a few weeks ago.
3. natural food sources might be plentiful
this is a possibility because we saw a lot of seeds that a cardinal could eat just looking around in the garden. Also, the only time I say any cardinals they were in a pair in the garden.
female Cardinal
male Cardinal
Photos of seed in garden that I took: according to sources cardinals eat grass seed, other seeds and bugs. So the garden is the perfect place for them to feed.
Some grass seed.
Some dried Black Eyed Susans
More grass seed
A seed pod
Even more seeds.
So many seeds!!!
Photos of seed in woods that I took:
The woods would also be a good place for them to feed,
Seeds
Seeds
More grass seed
so if theirs so much seed everywhere else then they really don't need to eat from the feeder.
4.their might be a new predator in the area:
this is not likely because we saw so many other birds such as chickadees and tufted tip mouses
5. Other changes might have happened:
it is possible that other things were happening the are effecting the cardinal population that we can't really see, like some sort of illness thats wiping them all out. but the evidence seems to be pointing towards other things.
Discussion:
Even though I didn't get to test out my original theory about cardinals life partners the one time I did see cardinals they were in a pair of a male and a female. But I did come the the conclusion that cardinals weren't coming to the feeder because other natural sources are so rich at this time of year.
Bibliography:
"Bird Observations." Explore Data. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. "Cardinal Corner's Information, Attract Cardinals, Deter Squirrels." Cardinalcorner. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015."Critter Catalog." BioKIDS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015."Northern Cardinal." , Life History, All About Birds. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015."Project FeederWatch." FeederWatch. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015."Top 5 Reasons Why Birds Stop Visiting Your Feeders." 'The Zen Birdfeeder' N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.Willson, Mary F. "Seed Preferences and Digestive Efficiency of Cardinals and Song Sparrows." The Condor 75.2 (1973): 225-34. JSTOR. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
Cardinal feeding habits.
My Question:
When a Cardinal eats at the feeder will its mate always be near by?My Hypothesis:
I think that because Cardinals will always be near their partners to stay safe, because they have life mates and they are such bright colors making them more vulnerable to predators.Introduction:
I came up with this question because I have always been interested in cardinals. I think its really interesting that they stay with their partners all their life, and they are really cute and fluffy.Materials and methods:
I will watch the bird feeder for about twenty minutes every evening and morning to see if I can see any Cardinals. Cardinals feed at these times. because they are ground feeders and their bright colors makes them easier to see.I will also listen for cardinal songs. cause that's how the male and females call to each other. The cardinal song sounds like
shweeeeee shweeeee chir chir chir chir
Materials I will need:
Results:
I went to the bird feeders every morning and evening for the observational study for two weeks but I did not see any Cardinals, I only saw chickadees. So I decided to look at other data sources such as ebird to figure out why I didn't see any birds at the feeder.But why do the counts go down in the fall?
According to Cornell labs they don't migrate, and they don't molt so they should still be identifiable and in the area.
According to a source there are 5 reasons why birds may not be visiting your bird feeders. I went in the woods around my house to figure out what ones of these apply.
1. The food might not be fresh
we had just filled up the feeder a few weeks ago and it is already empty. so the other birds seemed to like it. I saw a lot of chickadees feeding at the feeder.2.the bird feeder might not be clean
we cleaned it out a few weeks ago.3. natural food sources might be plentiful
this is a possibility because we saw a lot of seeds that a cardinal could eat just looking around in the garden.Also, the only time I say any cardinals they were in a pair in the garden.
Photos of seed in garden that I took:
according to sources cardinals eat grass seed, other seeds and bugs. So the garden is the perfect place for them to feed.
Photos of seed in woods that I took:
The woods would also be a good place for them to feed,4.their might be a new predator in the area:
this is not likely because we saw so many other birds such as chickadees and tufted tip mouses5. Other changes might have happened:
it is possible that other things were happening the are effecting the cardinal population that we can't really see, like some sort of illness thats wiping them all out. but the evidence seems to be pointing towards other things.Discussion:
Even though I didn't get to test out my original theory about cardinals life partners the one time I did see cardinals they were in a pair of a male and a female. But I did come the the conclusion that cardinals weren't coming to the feeder because other natural sources are so rich at this time of year.Bibliography:
"Bird Observations." Explore Data. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
"Cardinal Corner's Information, Attract Cardinals, Deter Squirrels." Cardinalcorner. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015."Critter Catalog." BioKIDS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015."Northern Cardinal." , Life History, All About Birds. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015."Project FeederWatch." FeederWatch. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015."Top 5 Reasons Why Birds Stop Visiting Your Feeders." 'The Zen Birdfeeder' N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.Willson, Mary F. "Seed Preferences and Digestive Efficiency of Cardinals and Song Sparrows." The Condor 75.2 (1973): 225-34. JSTOR. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.